232 killed in nightclub fire in southern Brazil

SAO PAOLO: In a horrific tragedy that would raise serious questions about public safety in Brazil, some 232 people — mostly teenagers — were killed in an inferno that swept through a nightclub, Kiss, in Santa Maria, a small city in Rio Grande do Sul, the prosperous southern state which shares its border with Argentina and Uruguay. The dead included 120 men and 110 women. More than 131 people were injured in the incident. The inferno started during the fireworks show when a band was playing in the club on Saturday night. As fireworks hit the ceiling of the club, packed with 2,000 teenagers enjoying a Saturday night party, the soundproofing material made of foam caught fire and within minutes the club was engulfed in huge flames and thick smoke, with most young boys and girls being asphyxiated or trampled to death. As the main door of the club was locked, the place turned into a death trap for the youngsters.

Earlier, the military brigade had informed reporters at a press conference that the number of dead was 245. With the toll of 232, this is the second biggest tragedy in Brazil, the first being the death of 503 people in a circus fire in Rio state in 1961.

The fire was so intense that fire crews had to knock down a wall to enter the premises and help those trapped inside escape.

Major Gerson da Rosa Ferreira, overseeing rescue efforts at the scene for the military police, told reporters in Santa Maria that bodies had already been identified and removed from the nightclub and taken to a local gym.

While most people escaped unhurt, according to officials in Santa Maria, more than 131 are being treated in hospitals in the region, with the condition of at least eight people being serious. The firefighters said the fatalities happened due to inhalation of toxic smoke. "Most of these people died of asphyxiation. They panicked and ended up trampling each other. Styrofoam creates a toxic smoke too, " the commanding general of the fire department, Col Guido de Melo told TOI over telephone from Santa Maria, a rich city of 300,000 people located some 300 km west of the state capital of Porto Alegre, which will host a few games of Fifa World Cup in 2014.

The city, which has a major air fore base and is located on the trade highway to Argentina and Uruguay, was plunged in sorrow as many families lost their teenage sons and daughters. Calling the tragedy "a sad Sunday", Rio Grande do Sul governor Tarso Genro said "all possible measures" are being taken to treat the victims. Though the whole of Brazil was shocked by this tragedy, it may turn into a political issue as the governor of Rio Grannde de Sul belongs to the Workers Party -- the same as Brzilian President Dilma Rousseff.

President Rousseff, who was in Chilean cappital Santiago when the tragedy occured, cancelled her meetings and flew straight to Santa Maria on Sunday. Shortly before leaving Santiago, Rousseff said, "We're together, and we will overcome this, although the sadness will remain."

The president cancelled her three bilateral meetings in Santiago and asked her ministers to help "alleviate the consequences of the tragedy" and move to the city to provide support to the population. "There is a mobilization of resources so that we can make not only the retrieval of bodies, but also a fast and efficient treatment to the injured," the President said, fighting back tears and with her voice choking.

Though the Brazilian authorities have reacted to this incident quickly, there are already concerns that the tragedy may cast shadow over the country's preparation for the Fifa World Cup and Olympics within next four years. With its economy booming and social equality becoming a reality, Brazil has been on upswing as both the federal and sate governments have been doing their best to showcase Brazil's economic might and political clout in the 2014 and 2016 events. The Santa Maria tragedy is a big setback to these efforts. "Now the foreigners, who always want to show us in bad light, will pounce on us and say 'look, that's how things work in Brazil," says Jorge Perreira, a local blogger. "But this kind of tragedy can happen — and it happens — in any part of the world."

Right now, the country is mobilising all its resources to provide relief and comfort to the resdients of Santa Maria, which hosts an important Catholic festival Romaria da Medianeira every year, with hundreds of thousands of people from all over Brazil arriving there for celebrations.

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